This invention relates to a mechanism that delivers vegetables to a cutter for slicing them.
Potatoes and other vegetables may be sliced transversely, for example, into helical strips. One type of prior-art system comprises a mechanical device to deliver the vegetables to the cutter. In another prior-art system, the vegetables are mixed with water, and are hydraulically delivered horizontally through a tapered, elastomeric conduit to a cutter. A third type of prior-art system hydraulically delivers the potatoes vertically, through a tapered, elastomeric conduit to a mechanically rotated cutter. A fourth type of prior art system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,784.
The performance of these prior art systems is not as high as it could be. "Performance" is dictated by three criteria. The first criterion is referred to as "throughput" which basically refers to the quantity of vegetables that is cut. It is important that the throughput be as high as possible. However, two other considerations can limit the throughput. One is quality, and the other is yield. Besides the cut quality criteria normally employed in french fry processing, an additional quality aspect is considered in the processing of helical french fries. This additional quality aspect relates to the number of coils produced of one turn or greater versus the smaller segments less than one complete coil, or the smaller pieces produced. The fewer the smaller pieces and segments less than one coil, the higher the quality. The second consideration, yield, has the normal meaning when used in french fry processing, that of acceptable quality produced versus the amount of incoming raw potatoes to the process line.
In the prior art systems identified above, the throughput is generally maintained low in order to maximize the quality of the cut and the yield.